


Money Problems

by MagicallyClueless



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, One Shot, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-13
Updated: 2019-04-13
Packaged: 2020-01-12 16:18:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18450173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MagicallyClueless/pseuds/MagicallyClueless
Summary: The new year is approaching, and after receiving their bills for the month, Robin and Demetrius know they can't stay much longer in Pelican Town. With both of them being frustrated, they try to talk about what they can do, depending on how bad the situation gets.This is a short one shot exploring a bit with Demetrius and Robin's relationship as well as their struggles as a family. Their family was always my favorite in Stardew Valley, so I wanted to give them a bit of time in the spotlight.





	Money Problems

“Pelican Town... it’s... it’s dying, Demetrius. I don’t know how much longer we can stay here. It’s getting too expensive.” Robin sat at the foot of her bed, clutching white bills in her hands. She furrowed her brows, glancing at her husband for only a moment before staring back down at the floor. Her breaths were hasty, halted. Her eyes got watery. She kept staring, biting her bottom lip, rehearsing lines in her head to steady herself. But she couldn’t fool anybody.

Demetrius stood in front of her, looking at her trembling arms. He reached forward with his hand, then stopped. “I...” His voice trembled, too. For a moment, he panned his vision over to a bookshelf beside their bed, reading the book titles he could see in hopes of seeing anything helpful at all. He glanced over to the window. It was pitch black outside, with a spot of snow on the outer windowsill. He crossed his arms and looked back down to her in defeat. “... Robin... we can’t keep supporting our home with our pockets alone, especially with the state of the town. We need to ask-”

“We are _not_ asking the kids for their money!” hissed Robin, now glaring at him. “We talked about this. It’s _our_ responsibility! I can’t... I can’t take their money!” Her booming voice cracked and softened. She noticed the horror on Demetrius’s face, and reached out a hand. He unfurled his arms to reciprocate. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell.”

“I know, love.”

She sighed and took a deep breath, as if to regain her composure. “... Sebastian’s been working so hard, you know?” A tear streamed down her cheek. “He’s been trying to leave town. I know he says it’s because of the family, but... you know that’s not true. You have to know that’s not true.” Her grip tightened on Demetrius’s hand and she closed her eyes. It was quiet for a moment. “And Maru’s been paying her own college loans... she overworks herself at the clinic sometimes, and...”

Demetrius let go of Robin’s hand and sat down beside her. He gently took the crumpled paper from her and re-read what was on it. “Love, there is no other feasible way for us to survive. The new year arrives in approximately 3 hours. You could be selling all your wood to the city and we would still be thousands short, and I c... I cannot rush what the university gives me. The forage I get does not sell for very much, either.” He furrowed his brows, scanning over the paper once more. “Maru can delay payment on the loans for a few months. Sebastian.... I am not sure how much he makes. But he is an adult, he should have moved out several years ago. The very least he should do is pay for what we accommodate.”

“Demetrius, don’t.” Robin’s voice hardened again. “You do _not_ put this on Sebastian. Maru is an adult too.”

“Maru has loans to pay, it makes sense for us to keep her. We are paying and feeding for Sebastian, and to be quite honest with you, I am not sure he really has an occupation.”

“He’s our son, Demetrius! And he works online, he works every day cooped up in that basement! It really makes me upset when you talk like this. It really disappoints me.” Her breaths were heavy as she tried to calm herself. “Even if he didn’t have a job, I would say the same thing. He’s our son. We do not just kick family out, especially not because of this.”

The grip he had on the paper loosened and his frown deepened. It looked like he wanted to speak, but better judgment told him to keep quiet.

Robin threaded her fingers through her hair, letting out another exasperated sigh. “I know it’s rough between you two right now... I know. He has said a lot of hurtful things to you recently. There have been a lot of fights. You pretend it doesn’t affect you, but it does.” She looked in his eyes. “Please.... you really need to make up with him. You haven’t exactly said nice things either.”

Demetrius’s eyes switched from Robin, to the paper, and back to Robin. Shyly, he looked off to the corner of the room. “... This is not about me, or about these issues. I am simply speaking about numbers, and what makes logical and monetary sense.”

“Demetrius... we can’t do this. Stop.”

“... Stop?”

“Yes. Stop. We can’t be turning on each other. Look... the town’s so broken. Everyone’s marriage is in some kind of trouble, and us... I really don’t want this to happen to us, or our family. I love you so much.” She squeezed both of his hands, leaning her body against his side. She was still trembling. Demetrius made a few sounds from his throat, as if to try to speak, but nothing was coming out. She continued: “Pierre and Caroline have had huge issues since we’ve known them... Jodi’s a mess because Kent hasn’t sent a letter back in several months and she’s gone stir crazy handling her children. Everyone knows about Marnie and Lewis, and they’re just another story entirely. We have our own problems... a lot of problems. But my love for you is not one of them. When we can’t even have a bus system, we’ve lost entire parts of our town to decay and monsters, I just... I need you.”

Demetrius’s shoulders tensed. His face reddened a little, opening his mouth to try to speak again. Still, nothing came out. Robin started to cry. In all the years they’ve been married, Demetrius could not remember the last time she cried. “... Robin... I...”

“Can you promise me? Promise me we won’t fall apart because of this? Promise me we’ll be okay, our family will be okay?”

“I don’t... I don’t, kn...”

Robin shook her head, her face buried in the side of his arm. “Please. Please promise me. Don’t go to logic, just this once.”

Demetrius took a deep breath. “It’ll... I promise. I promise.” He placed the papers away from them on the bed, then turned towards her. He opened his arms, which she dived into without hesitation. She tightly held his waist and rested her head in his chest. He slowly held her in return, letting their warmth do most of the conversation for a little while. “.... I love you too,” he muttered.

The sentiment made Robin cough a bit of a chuckle. He could feel her smile somehow. She calmed herself enough and moved her head to the side, closing her eyes. “Maybe I’ll just... pick up a second job. Maybe Lewis could scrounge up some money to pay me to fix those broken bridges.”

Her husband’s voice was soft, gentle, but he couldn’t break his honesty. “I believe he would have done that if he had the money before... You are the best in the region.”

“Aww... Don’t flatter me,” she teased a little.

“I’m being a hundred percent serious.”

She chuckled again, mostly because she knew he was telling the truth. “Thank you. I, yeah, I guess you’re right. We’ll figure something out though, yeah? Hopefully without selling the house. And Maru and Sebby won’t have to worry. They’ll be fine too. We’ll all be fine.”

Demetrius frowned. “I admire your positivity... It makes me want to hope for the same. Ah... perhaps... we should do more outside together. I worry you will stress yourself out too much with these financial issues.”

“What are you thinking we do?”

“Perhaps... hm... maybe the saloon? We certainly cannot afford the food for the time being, but... maybe just...”

Robin smiled and lifted herself to look at him better. His expression was twisted, trying to think of the right words to say. His face turned her smile into a grin. “There’s a jukebox. I wanna see your moves.”

“Wh... it has been a while since we have done that!” Demetrius exclaimed, face reddening once more. “Is that something you really want?”

“Yes,” she said. “A hundred percent serious.”

He looked off, but there was a pull from her gaze. His eyes trailed back to her, and he couldn’t help but smile back. “Then we should. I can’t promise you that I am still as skilled.”

“That doesn’t matter,” she murmured and went back into his hold. “Any time we dance together is perfect to me.” She lifted her head up just enough to kiss his jaw. “Thank you for being so sweet.”

He kissed her head in return and rubbed her back in slow rhythm. “Love...” His eyebrows furrowed. “What... what will we do, if we have no choice but to sell the house?”

“I don’t know, to tell you the truth. I can always build another. If worst comes to worst, as much as I hate this, maybe closer to my parents.”

“... Definitely not,” he mumbled, appearing grumpier.

“Your parents?”

"Even worse.”

Robin laughed a little. “We’ll... we’ll figure something out. Like you said, I shouldn’t be stressing out, and neither should you. Let’s... take it one step at a time. We’re not the only ones struggling... we’re all in this together.

_Knock! Knock!_

Robin and Demetrius both sat up straight, startled. That was the front door. Robin growled, “Who is at our house so late?”

“Maybe Sebastian forgot the key.”

“No, he came in an hour ago.” Robin stood up from the bed and warily exit the room. Demetrius followed behind as she went down their hallway, past the lab and the shop, and up to the front door.

_Knock! Knock!_

She opened the door. It was Lewis, panting and sweating. “Lewis? Did you run all the way up here? Why are you here so late?” she asked, almost accusatory. Demetrius loomed behind, curious, but not wanting to be a part of the conversation.

Lewis sighed in relief, wiped his forehead. “Great news! We’re getting a new face in town tomorrow!”

Robin and Demetrius looked at each other, eyes wide. They both turned back to Lewis, with Robin confronting more: “New face? You mean someone is moving in to the town? Where on earth do we have an empty house that isn’t destroyed?”

“Remember a few years ago, when we lost our grand old farmer? His grandchild owns the deed to the farm and is moving in... also as a farmer!”

Robin was speechless.

Lewis took off his hat and fanned it in his own face. “I just got the news, which is why I’m here so late. I thought you could be one of the first ones to talk to them, maybe let them know they can expand their house, build some farm buildings. They could definitely pump a lot into our town. Young, too... maybe they’ll end up attracting a bunch of other folks to move in.”

“Th...thank you, Lewis! I’d be happy to help them out tomorrow!” she beamed, turning to grin at Demetrius. He smiled back to her.

Lewis made a raspy but satisfied laugh. “Sorry to bother you so late, but y’all have a good night. I have to do some preparations myself.” He gave a small wave and turned back around to hobble down the mountain. Robin yelled her goodbyes and ecstatically waved to him, slamming the door some seconds after.

Both Maru and Sebastian’s doors cracked open at the commotion, only to close immediately after seeing Robin in Demetrius’s arms, tightly embraced, lips locked. Even though he first said it with hesitation, Demetrius was right. They would be okay.

**Author's Note:**

> I feel Demetrius is one of the most underrated characters in SDV and I really wanted to write about him and Robin, so I did! I don't know if I got his way of speaking right, and I'm definitely not savvy enough to give him a ton of big words, but I still had fun and I hope I did well enough as a mostly dialogue-centered piece. This isn't really connected to my fanfic, written to apply to the game in general, though I did take some headcanon liberties. I don't think it's stated in game if Maru actually went to college, and there is no real mention of money problems themselves in the game, but considering how the farmer brings it back all to life, it's fitting that they might've had some trouble before.
> 
> Also, I just think Demetrius and Robin stand as the absolute cutest couple in the whole game and I will die on this hill
> 
> I hope you enjoyed!


End file.
